Senate passes bill requiring mental status check by gun dealers

Madison — Dealers would have to check the mental health histories of handgun buyers before selling them firearms under a bill passed unanimously Tuesday by the Senate.

Senators also advanced a bill that could lead to limits on the areas where tickets for Milwaukee Brewers and Green Bay Packers games could be resold outside the stadiums.

The handgun measure is meant to help prevent shootings such as the one at Virginia Tech in 2007 that killed 32 students and teachers.

Dealers now have to request background checks on handgun buyers from the state Department of Justice, but the checks don't include information about whether a court has prohibited a buyer from owning a firearm for mental health reasons under federal law.

The firearms bill passed without debate and heads to the Assembly, which like the Senate is controlled by Democrats. Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle supported the idea in the past.

A similar bill pushed by supporters in 2008 failed to get to the floor of either chamber for a vote. At the time, Democrats controlled the Senate and Republicans ran the Assembly.

• Passed a bill 28-3 that would set the stage for limiting where tickets can be sold at or below face value at events including Milwaukee Brewers and Green Bay Packers games.

Three Republicans, Sens. Glenn Grothman of West Bend, Alan Lasee of De Pere and Mary Lazich of New Berlin, voted against the bill, with Grothman saying it was too restrictive and not needed. The measure's lead sponsor, Sen. Jim Sullivan (D-Wauwatosa), said the measure would help restrict pushy sellers but have only a light first-time fine.

The stadium districts for Miller Park and Lambeau Field could create resale zones as the only areas where tickets can be sold on the secondary market at or below face value. Such zones also could be created outside the Bradley Center and the Summerfest grounds.

The bill also would give municipalities the power to restrict where tickets are sold at or below face value. It goes to the Assembly.

A first offense would net a fine of $10. Subsequent offenses could cost up to $500.

• Approved unanimously a bill to require health care providers and hospitals to provide consumers with the median billed charges for the most commonly treated conditions. Sullivan argued it would bring down health care costs by making them more transparent.

'You go to see the doctor . . . and you don't know what it's going to cost,' he said. 'This gets us to the answer.'

The measure passed the Assembly last week and heads to Doyle.

• Signed off on an Assembly-passed bill that would give law enforcement immediate access to electronic copies of driver's license photos.

The law already allows officers to get copies of driver's license photos, but they must do so by written request. The bill would make it so officers could pull up driver's license photos on the computers in their squad cars to compare to the licenses drivers hand them when they are stopped.

The bill passed unanimously and heads to Doyle.

• Voted 29-2 to crack down on 'diploma mills' - unaccredited schools that dole out credentials for cash without requiring students to do much work.

The bill limits the use of the terms 'college' and 'university' and creates penalties of up to $10,000 and nine months in jail for knowingly issuing false academic credentials. Those who knowingly use false academic credentials could face fines of up to $1,000.

Grothman and Lasee voted against the bill, which heads to the Assembly.